Healthy doesn't have to mean humdrum. With this guide to quaffable produce, get in on the next big thing in juice: four-star flavor.

'A JUICE BAR on every corner" could be the unofficial slogan of the Obama era. In New York, the trend hit critical mass in the last year or so, but long before that, there was Melvin Major, Jr. "When I got into juicing 23, 24 years ago, it was kale, collards, chard," he said of the prevailing circa-1990 approach. "I couldn't do all-green—it was too hard-core. I wanted a great taste."

Interactive: Juicing, A to Z

Today, at Melvin's Juice Box in SoHo, Mr. Major serves the Jamaican Green, a lively kale, apple, lemon, ginger and celery blend with terrific body and a mineral finish. To describe a juice in this way—as one might a wine—is beginning to make sense now that more chefs are getting into the game. At long last, juice is having its epicurean moment.

The new wave runs to refined combinations like beet, blood orange, fennel and shiso leaf—aka the Zest for Life, at Creative Juice in New York. (The juice's creator, chef Michael Romano, said, "I'd serve it with a meal, something like roasted venison.") Or elegantly spare sips like a honeydew, cilantro and lime mix at Moon Juice in Venice, Calif. Owner Amanda Chantal Bacon, a veteran of top restaurant kitchens, said, "I didn't want to distract from the honeydew. The lime just polishes it a bit." Up the beach in Santa Monica, Matthew Kenney of the acclaimed raw-vegan restaurant M.A.K.E. spikes his citrusy Spice-C with jalapeño. "You're getting superpowered nutrition; you should feel it," he said. "It's a dynamic mouth experience."

Mixologists are expanding the repertoire of ingredients still further. In Portland, Ore., Lydia Reissmueller of TenderBAR is in the process of launching her own juice company. Her Succotash Smash of squash, tomato and sweet pepper gets its exotic herbal note from Mexican epazote.

Among serious home juicers, cold-pressing—a slow process said to extract a more nutrient-rich juice—is the prevailing orthodoxy. But for those just starting out, Matt Shook of JuiceLand in Austin, Texas, recommends the easy-to-use Breville Juice Fountain (models start at $100), a centrifugal machine that pulverizes produce and spins to separate juice and pulp.

The 26 fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices featured here are another great place to start. Use them in the recipes below, or just go with whatever tastes good to you. Delicious is the new hard-core.

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